Cruiser
Under the New Order, the traditional cruiser design was modified for increased proficiency when facing the Coalition, and was more manoeuvrable, heavier armed and defended. The ship's traditional outline has been kept, however the bow has been streamlined and is more bulbous, tapering to an airplane like nose, and the hyper drive pods have curved inwards to form a much more compact rear profile, making the ship’s profile reminiscent of that of a dagger. These versatile warships are the preferred bases of operation for the Wraith Intelligence services. Specifications Class: Cruiser Designation: Arvadak Type: Ship of the Line Role: Carrier Escort and Deep Insertion Users: New Order With: 350 meters Length: 700 meters Hull: Biopolymer Exoskeleton and Internal Supports. Power Generation The Aardvark is powered by n array of redundant sub space taps and partially by direct energy extraction from it’s fusion engines. This energy is stored in high capacity bioelectrical capacitors running thought the ship as both power conduits and storage devices, before feeding the power to the ship’s separate systems. Propulsion The Aardvark’s motive systems are essentially unchanged form it’s previous incarnation. Four ventrally placed fusion engines grouped in pairs propel it thought space along with an array of inertial dampeners and an inertia-less manoeuvring system. Like the Cruisers before it, the Aardvark’s drive exhaust is capable of significant one dimensional thrust vectoring, and can point laterally to the ship’s drive axis, making it more manoeuvrable than Coalition ships of comparable tonnage. It’s hyperdrive systems are more compact and redundant, capable of taking multiple hits from relativistic penetrates and still function. Their speed however has not improved, and they must still make periodic stops to regenerate from hyperspace radiation. Armament The Aardvark’s main weapon is its spinal energy bolter. An incredibly redundant piece of technology, making extensive use of emergency force field containment barriers and triple backed up systems, it can withstand many direct hits from relativistic penetrates and still function. The canon is more powerful than the standard pre-war Hive anti-ship canon, and can deliver specialized bolts as the mission dictates, whether charging them for maximum shield draining effect, or firing them as kinetic bolts against unshielded targets. Standard procedure dictates it uses this gun to drain the enemy’s shields from long range while it’s LAC complement engages with close in nuclear fusion devices. Defensive Capabilities Unlike it’s predecessor, the Aardvark is equipped with defensive technology uniquely suited to combating Coalition forces to a degree far beyond what conventional estimates dictated and have a lead of over half a generation over the Coalition in electronic warfare especially. Besides the conventional jamming equipment and aggressive electronic warfare and infiltration suites, the Aardvark is equipped with a “telepathic disruption array”, a technological adaptation of the Wraith’s natural telepathic abilities used for hunting, capable of reaching across the vast distances of space combat. Under normal circumstances a ship grade shield would almost completely block such interference, but as shield integrity drops, it’s fictiveness increases, making crew nervous, jumpy, spiking when shield are downed and the crew become delusional and paranoid, cutting their combat effectiveness to nearly zero. Against unshielded projectile weapons it uses an array of strategically placed culling beam projectors to dematerialise the projectile and store it harmlessly in it’s buffer. However a Coalition missiles have evolved to deal with this threat by using low intensity shields, the culling array is used to attenuate the power of relativistic rounds and as a speedy collector of organic matter to be used in healing the ship. Against shielded missiles ,and, to a lesser extent, Ancient drone weapons; it uses a series of neutral/charged particle beam weapons similar to the Ancient Defence Satellite (raising questions as to the true origins of either weapon) capable of first draining a missile’s low power shield with the charged mode of operation, then heating it up from the inside on a subatomic level in the neutral mode; devastating it’s electronics and under rare circumstances detonating the payload. Transluminal Strike Complement The Aardvark is equipped with several surface docking pits for LACs, which are used a scouts and in combat situations will engage the enemy with close in nuclear fusion weapons while their mother ship drains the enemy’s shield. They also allow the Aardvark to hit targets beyond the light speed “horizon” with precision. Additional Capabilities and Systems The Aardvark’s internal security unlike it’s predecessors’ is nearly infallible, with strategically placed stun fields and audio/video monitoring devices. The ship’s controlled by a fly-by-thought neural interfaces which only accept input from those who carry Wraith DNA (full strand scan, unlike previous systems is required, locking out even humans with certain Wraith genes), and allows instant communication between mind and machine, going so far as to link individual crew members together in a system more efficient than verbal communication. Like all war time Wraith designs, redundancy is paramount, a necessity during a time and age of relativistic weapons. The ship’s electronic systems are far in advance of human computer software, and are capable of sub-sentient learning and improvement. Self Repair The ship is a biomechanical entity capable of healing from damage over time, and wounded ships that can escape the fight will certainly be back within a week. As such Coalition policy focuses on terminal firepower application, and the complete destruction of any target. A Aardvark can typically be grown from a biological seed and human host in just under a month, depending on the condition of local organic compounds and the availability of metallic ores. Wraith Ships